Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with morale

How do I get management of my small company to see how low morale is and do something about it?

Anonymous — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 15:35:06 -0800

My company's management is driving us into the ground with their poor project ideas, and morale is really low. How do I get them to see what they're doing and hopefully make changes? I work for a small (~30 people) tech firm based near a large city on the east coast. It's somewhat difficult to classify what we do, but basically if any company needs tech staff, we can provide it. We have good relations with a large telecom and most of our people are placed there. We also had a contract for a development project with the company, but that fell through recently during budget cuts on their end. Now that that contract is gone, we don't have any projects coming up. It's not all that surprising, then, that morale in the company is pretty low. We're also down around ten people from two years ago, and there hasn't been any indication that they want to start hiring again.

Part of the problem is our management. My boss gets these half-baked ideas, has us follow them for awhile, and then ends the project when it fails. The ideas he comes up with are fairly absurd and most of us roll our eyes at them, but we keep going with it because he pays us, and there's always the odd chance that one of them might actually work. They seem to be against venturing beyond this one telecom, which seems like a pretty ridiculous thing to do. A brief explanation of management: our company is "run" by our CEO, who is the daughter of the guy who really runs the show. The latter is who I refer to as my boss. She has stated several times that she would like to see the company go down a certain path, but it's pretty clear that she takes her marching orders from her father.

It's pretty amazing to me that management can't see how their business plan is destroying the company, and how we're all aware of that and how it drives down morale. And if they do see it, they're turning a blind eye to it for some reason. But I can't stand it anymore. When I started at the company, they welcomed me with open arms and made me feel like I was part of the family - and that's all gone now. I have ideas for projects that are considerably less ridiculous than what my boss conjures up, but I don't get responses to my emails.

So my question is: how do I bring all of these issues about the company to management's attention, and maybe make them do something? It's clearly rude and out of line to sit down with my boss and say, "Hey, your ideas are running us into the ground; why not try something new?" but I can't come up with anything else. Our CEO is marginally more approachable than her father, and I've thought about trying to sit down with her and try to get her to see things from our perspective, but I would think that to be really out of line. I don't really know the business side of things, so I'm not in a position of authority there. Has anyone else dealt with this sort of thing? Are there ways to appoach the subject?

Oh, and I don't want to leave the company. I'm part of a very capable team, and I like everyone in the company. I'm also somewhat cautious of starting a new job, with the economy still doing poorly. If I start new now and the new company goes belly up or they need to downsize, I'd be the first one out - and I don't have a lot of cash saved up.

Help me get my dad back

Anonymous — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 19:33:27 -0800

My normally confident/upbeat dad recently went through a major surgery and has come out with his morale/confidence destroyed. Help me talk to him. My dad is one of the most amazing people I know. He has always been kind and considerate to everyone, a great husband to my mother, a wonderful dad to me and my sister.

He endured exceptional hardship early in his life (lost his father as a teenager), but still managed to support his disabled mom and put himself through college/graduate school. He had stood by me and my sister through every crisis we've had (and continue to have) and we couldn't really have asked for more. We are in our 30s and he is in his mid 60s.

Dad was also very disciplined in almost all areas of his life, but particularly with his diet and exercise. Last month, what started as a routine check up with his cardiologist, led to more tests, resulting last week in a bypass surgery. This was all very unexpected. The operation seems to have worked and (physically) he is on the road to recovery. But mentally he is not.

He is no longer the same confident person he used to be. He seems defeated and has lost interest in everything. I have never seen him more vulnerable in my entire life. First, he did not anticipate how difficult the surgery would be. When he went under, he was pretty sure that he wouldn't make it. When the nurse in post-op tried to wake him, he thought he was already in a coma and was just hearing voices inside his head. I don't know what to make of this. I keep telling my family these kinds of feeling are normal for someone who has never had surgery (dad particularly since I can't ever recall him being sick) and he will be able to process these emotions better after he regains his strength (it has been 12 days since the surgery).

Second, he feels like he's been cheated. To him all that diet/exercise made absolutely no difference at all. He has now decided that he is not going to care about his finances, investments, properties or anything else in his life. "What's the point, it's all a crap shoot anyway". This coming from him is a shock to me. I can understand that surgery this big (especially for him since he has never been under full anesthesia ever), can be hard to get over.

What can I do to reassure him that this is not the time to throw everything out the window? Are these feelings normal for someone just out of surgery? I want to be the person he was to us, and help him but I don't know how.

I appreciate any thoughts you have. thanks.

(Opposition to) War, what is it good for?

twirlypen — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 05:36:01 -0800

There are those that say opposition at home to a war overseas is harmful to the morale of the soldiers fighting said war. Have you been/are you in the military? Know someone who is/was? What do they think about that argument? So there's this war going on at the moment. There's a fair bit of opposition to it, and I've heard it said quite a bit (especially in those ol' united states) that such opposition is unpatriotic and damaging, that the soldiers are disheartened and all sorts of terrible things.

So, as a soldier, what do you think about people at home saying that a war should not be fought? I want to find out if the above argument is actually a sound one or if it's just a tactic used to make any anti-war statement automatically unpatriotic.

Beware. PHB lurking ahead.

Jonsnews — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 10:45:03 -0800

Help me prevent my Pointy Headed Boss from implementing a daily required karaoke session. Theres definatly Ok.. Well my boss has it set in his head that we need to do some daily activity at some point in the day to boost morale. His current idea consists of MAKING everyone in my office sing a song together.
Words cannot express how horrible this sounds to me.
So what can I counter propose as a fun (to everyone, even introverts) activity we can all do for 5-10 minutes a day.
I have been searching google on team building activities, but I think this is more of a attitude adjuster then team building..
I wish I could convince him how much fun a 10 minuite networked game of GTA would be, but alas, I'm the only gamer..

ManagerFilter: Improving Staff Morale

Miko — Tue, 24 May 2005 13:59:48 -0800

ManagerFilter:Need some easy, cost-effective tips for making the workday more fun and upbeat. I work in a mid-size museum, and our front-line staff of historic interpreters is kind of down in the dumps. We had some changes in benefits that were unwelcome, coinciding with several illnesses among staff, and also coinciding with two weeks of the coldest, most heinous spring weather I can remember. These folks have to slog through the mud and rain to give tours, etc. I'm looking for some ways to make everyone feel more appreciated and add some small enjoyment to daily work.

Some parameters:
1. It's a highly educated work force, so anything cutesy or patronizing (balloons, insincere cheerleading) may fall flat.
2. There's no budget for this, and I can't make a very big personal outlay. Perks that are cheap or free to give will be welcome.
3. We need things that will fit into a normal workday - things we can do for people, leave in a mailbox, or say. We don't ever have the whole staff in one room, so parties, all-staff lunches, or things to do in meetings won't help here.

So if you've got any ideas - from either a boss or an employee perspective -- please post them here. What's one of the nicest little surprises or lagniappes you've experienced at work? Thanks.